Julie Kagawa - Legion

Riley, Wes and Jade were all there, the two dragons standing around the table discussing something in quiet undertones while Wes sat at the computer, furiously typing away. As we came into the room, Jade inclined her head to me with a faint smile. I nodded back.

“There you are,” Riley announced, looking at Ember. “Sure you got everything, Firebrand? It’s a long way to the Ozarks, and we’re not turning around this time.” One corner of his mouth curled into a smirk. “We don’t want to be halfway through Colorado before you realize you left your Viper suit in the bathroom.”

“That was one time, Riley.” Ember rolled her eyes. “And we lost fifteen minutes, tops. Let it go.”

“All right,” Wes interrupted, rising from the chair. “That’s done. I sent the final message through the network. Everyone is on high alert, with instructions to stay put unless absolutely necessary. We’re ready to move out.” Since I didn’t need watching anymore, Wes was coming, too.

The rogue shook his head. “Right,” he said, sounding not at all thrilled with the whole idea. “Let’s get this over with. Eighteen hours is a hell of a drive, so we’re going to have to do it in shifts. St. George, since you’re feeling so magically rested...” He tossed me a pair of keys. “You’re driving first.”

DANTE

Three years ago

Finals week was always hell.

“Watch it,” I snapped as Ember closed the refrigerator door and nearly ran into me with the milk. “Don’t you ever look before you bash into people headfirst?”

She snorted. “Jeez, grumpy much?” She sidestepped me and headed to the table. “Did something crawl up your butt in the shower?”

I yanked open the fridge door. “Sorry,” I muttered, pulling out the juice. “Just tired. I was up till two last night studying.”

She wrinkled her nose as I joined her at the table. “Again? You did that yesterday. And the day before. And all afternoon.”

“Yes, because I want to pass,” I snapped again. “Because, unlike you, I can’t half-ass my way through life. Because, unlike you, everyone expects me to do better. So yes, I have to study and not spend my evenings watching TV in my room.”

“Hey, jackass, I’ve been studying, too,” Ember snarled back. “Every night, I’ll have you know. So don’t pull that ‘I’m more persecuted than you’ crap with me. If you choose to stay up all night, don’t bitch at me if you’re tired. It’s not my fault.”

I started to snarl back at her but stopped myself. She was right. We were both cranky and exhausted. The past week had been nothing but exams, studying and more exams. Not just in math, science, biology and all our academic studies; we also had daily tests measuring how “human” we could be. These were to see if we could remain under control in extreme, stressful situations, or if we’d lose it and Shift to dragon form. Yesterday, one of our “exams” had involved sitting in the middle of a circle, trying to answer calmly while everyone around us had screamed in our face or asked demanding questions. I’d kept my cool and passed easily enough, but Ember had come out of the room bristling and ready to snap at anything that touched her.

“Sorry,” I offered again, and managed a half smile.

She relaxed and smiled back, mollified for now. “At least it’s the last day,” she said in a relieved voice. “After this, things will go back to normal.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I hope so.”

“God, they’d better,” Ember muttered. “If I have to endure another ‘scream in your face for a half hour’ exam, I’m going to bite someone’s head off.” She curled a lip, then took a hard bite of her cereal, crunching down with vigor. “Anyway, I have reasons to pass these stupid tests, too. Did you know that Mr. Gordon will take us to see the new horror movie if we ace the final exam?”

I smirked at her. “You might’ve mentioned that once or twice.”

She ignored my sarcasm. “I’m so tired of these same stupid walls,” she went on, glaring at the walls in question. “I need to get out of here, for a couple hours at least. And come on, Dante—you’re excited, admit it. You’ve been dying to see this movie, too.”

“Yes, though you know what I’m not looking forward to? Being woken up at 12:00 a.m. by someone sneaking into my room because she thought she heard her closet door open.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ember answered breezily. “But you should probably leave the sleeping bag on the floor, just in case.”

I shook my head, finished my glass and headed to my room for my books.

* * *

Testing was brutal. I was tired, and about an hour in, my head started to ache. But I gritted my teeth and pushed myself to finish early. Ember, shockingly, finished a few minutes after me, indicating that she had been studying as she’d said. I felt bad for snapping at her.

After the two-hour science test, we were ordered outside. It was midafternoon, and the sun beat down directly overhead, baking the dusty earth. A car waited for us near the gated entrance of the compound, engines humming, a man in a suit standing at the front. I was surprised, and a little wary. Testing wasn’t over yet, far from it; why would they have us leave the school premises now?

The doors were opened for us by black-suited Talon employees, and we climbed in without a word, knowing questions were useless and never answered. The car pulled out of the gate, and the school soon vanished in the rear window.

As usual, it was cold in the car. A little too cold for my liking, but the tinted glass between us and the driver prevented any questions or requests to turn down the AC. Ember gazed out the window, eager to be out of the compound and away from school, no matter the situation. I was a little less enthused. Not that I wasn’t happy to be outside, of course. I just didn’t know what Talon had planned. Why were they taking us out of school in the middle of testing?

“Where do you think we’re going?” I mused out loud, watching the desert speed by beyond the glass.

Ember shrugged. “Who cares? We’re out of school and not stuck in testing for six hours. They could be taking us to the gas station and I wouldn’t complain.” She thought about it, then shrugged again. “Maybe they’re taking us to see the movie early, because we did so well?”

I grimaced. “I highly doubt that.”

Abruptly, the car made a sharp left, cruising off the narrow private road and bouncing into the desert. Startled and now even more wary, I watched the road disappear as we went deeper into the middle of nowhere.

Just as I was about to run some crazy theories by Ember, the car slowed and came to a rolling stop in a billow of dust. With a faint buzz, the glass separator rolled down a few inches, just enough for us to see the top of the driver’s head over the rim.

“Get out. Both of you.”

I looked out the window. There was nothing beyond the glass. No gas stations, roads, signs or cars. Nothing but desert, stretching to the horizon in every direction.

“Here?” Ember asked, echoing my confusion. “Why?”

Questions regarding orders were generally discouraged or went unanswered, so I was surprised when the driver answered. “Part of your testing,” he replied brusquely. “The first to make it back passes. The other fails.”

My stomach dropped, and I stared at the driver, wondering if he was serious. “What happens if we come back together?”

“Then you both fail.” He made a gesture with two fingers, indicating that we leave the car. “Go.”

Stunned, we slid out. As soon as the doors closed, the vehicle tore off in a cloud of dust, cruised over a sand rise and disappeared. Leaving us alone in the middle of the Mohave Desert.